The Large Vehicle Alert System, a new development to enhance road safety, has been unveiled by CLAAS.

The company is teaming up with BMW AG at Agritechnica, the world's leading trade fair for agricultural machinery, to show how, in future, car drivers and motorcyclists can be given advance warning of the presence of large machines on the road ahead.

Communication between road users

The position data of agricultural machines and tractors which are running on public roads are transmitted by the new system in real time to assistance or navigation systems in the vehicles of other road users. In this way, drivers of passenger cars and trucks can be notified and warned proactively about the position and status of agricultural machines on their route. If the number, width and speed of the agricultural machines are such that they cause delays - in the case of intensive transport activities on a given route during silage maize harvesting or slurry application, for example - it is possible for the system to suggest alternative routes to the driver.

The Large Vehicle Alert System is the first road safety system that gives the drivers of network-connected cars and trucks warning of the presence of agricultural vehicles on the road ahead.

TELEMATICS provides the basis

On the agricultural machine side, the Large Vehicle Alert System is based on the CLAAS TELEMATICS system which is available on almost all self-propelled CLAAS machines and tractors. In addition, other, non-CLAAS tractors and vehicles can be integrated into the system at no great expense or effort by means of a smartphone app. The position data of the connected machines and tractors are transmitted over the mobile phone network to a server every 4 seconds. The server then sends the data relating to all the machines which are in road travel mode to the participating car and navigation system manufacturers. This data is transmitted in anonymous form and only if the owner has specifically activated the service. The servers of the respective manufacturers then transmit the data to the assistance/navigation systems in the vehicles and app devices which are connected to the service.

Virtual rotating beacon

The Large Vehicle Alert System therefore functions like a virtual rotating beacon which reliably warns other road users - but at a much greater distance - of the presence of agricultural vehicles on the road ahead. This new development from CLAAS represents an important step towards greater road safety. The German Agricultural Society (Deutsche Landwirtschafts-Gesellschaft, DLG) has recognised this innovation with a silver medal.